Edward Burtynsky
Edward Burtynsky is an internationally recognized photographer, born in St. Catharines, Ontario, whose work has been widely exhibited in North America and Europe. His work documents how human activity has transformed the natural environment, and he sees it as his role as an artist to make people aware of these changes, providing a warning about what is at stake. Burtynsky photographs industrial developments — mines, refineries, pipelines, shipyards and rail lines — and their impact on the landscape. He has received several awards, including the TED Prize, the Outreach Award at the Rencontres d’Arles, the Roloff Beny Photography Book Award, and the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association. He is a member of the Order of Canada and holds six honorary doctorates.
Burtynsky’s training in photography was acquired from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Ontario (a Bachelor of Applied Arts in photographic arts and media studies in 1982) and Niagara College in Welland, Ontario (a diploma in graphic arts in 1976). In 1985, he founded Toronto Image Works, a darkroom, photography lab and new media training centre. He is a sought-after speaker and his two TED Talks together have garnered nearly a million views. He is a member of the board of directors for Toronto’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and of the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre.
Burtynsky’s works are held in numerous corporate and public collections, including those belonging to universities, governments and over sixty major museums, libraries and archives such as the National Archives of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; the Library of Congress in Washington DC; la Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris; and the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Compiled 2014
Burtynsky’s training in photography was acquired from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Ontario (a Bachelor of Applied Arts in photographic arts and media studies in 1982) and Niagara College in Welland, Ontario (a diploma in graphic arts in 1976). In 1985, he founded Toronto Image Works, a darkroom, photography lab and new media training centre. He is a sought-after speaker and his two TED Talks together have garnered nearly a million views. He is a member of the board of directors for Toronto’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and of the Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre.
Burtynsky’s works are held in numerous corporate and public collections, including those belonging to universities, governments and over sixty major museums, libraries and archives such as the National Archives of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; the Library of Congress in Washington DC; la Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris; and the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Compiled 2014